Laying-register for fowls.



G. H. DILLON.

LAYING REGISTER FOR FOWLS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. I916.

1,243,271. Patented Oct. 16, I917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. DILLON, Q1 SAWTELLE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO RICHARD H. ANGELL, 0F SOLDIERS HOME, CALIFORNIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 191 '7.

Application filed June 24, 1916. Serial No. 105,751.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. DILLON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sawtelle, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California have invented a new and useful Laying-Register for Fowls, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide ractical means whereby the laying capacity of hens and other fowls may be positively determined so that the drones may be separated from the more profitable fowls and the profitable fowls may be classified and separated into graded flocks, kept in different yards for improvement of breeds and for exact determination of profits.

Further objects are, simplicity, eheapness, facility of applying and removlng the device to and from the fowls, facility for cleaning, disinfecting, sterilizing and freeing from vermin and to provide a light strong appliance for this purpose which will not inconvenience the fowl nor diminish her productiveness nor deter her from laying, and which can not be peeked or scratched off or be otherwise removed by the fowl.

Other objects, advantages and features of novelty may appear from the accompanying drawings, the subjoined description and the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in the form at present deemed most desirable.

Figure 1 is a view of the laying register in position on a hen.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same detached, the fastening clips being open.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the other side of the register detached, the clips being closed.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the register detached.

Fig. 5 is a reduced view of a sheet metal stamping in which the body and the bearings and sockets thereof shown in the other figures may be bent.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a register constructed in accordance with this invention with the indicator located at the front end of the body.

The body 1 is a light strong member of aluminum or other sultable material preferably in a sheet form having the edges 2 seamed or lapped over to increase rigidity and to form sockets and hearings to receive and secure various elements of the device.

Fastening means 3 are applied to one end of said body and are shown as clips formed of bent wire limbs integral with a straight central journal member 4 that is journaled to the body 1 by a loop 5 bent from the end of the main body 1.'

Said body 1 is also provided with lateral loops 6 forming sockets to receive the straight tips 7 of the clips 3. Said clips are bent to extend from the sides of the body, downward and .back underneath the wings -of the fowl and then up to the sockets 6 and are of a resilient nature being made of spring steel or other suitable wire and covered with soft cushion-like sheaths 8 which may be made of rubber tubing or other suitable material adapted to prevent chafing the wings or body of the fowl and also adapted to receive and retain an antiseptic and fumigating solution to serve as a protection of the fowl against parasites.

The straight tips 7 may be inserted into the sockets 6 by springing the clips 3 for that purpose, and are held in place by the resiliency of the clips.

The sockets 6 may be bent from a single piece and may be slidingly adjustable along the body 1 to slide onto or off of the tips 7 if that method of connecting the sockets and tips together is preferred. The sockets may be made stationary on the body by any suitable means, as by swaging so as to be movable only by the application of considerable force.

All of this will be understood by anyone skilled in the art of making wire and sheet metal articles with and without sliding parts.

The cushions 8 may be provided with porous receptacles 8 for containing asafetida or other disinfectant or an insecticide to free the fowl from vermin and to conserve its health.

The main frame, comprising the body 1 and the parts formed integral and rigid from the body of the fowl.

Said register lever 9 is preferably an elongate loop of wire having an orifice 13 between its side limbs to accommodate and to be held by the tail of the bird and to allow the free passage of excrement, but adapted to be actuated by an egg as it is laid.

The limbs of the loop 9 extend down on each side of the orifice 13 and are bent at the lower end toward each other and are preferably cushioned as at 1 1, 15, to form egg-receiving parts in position to be acted upon by the egg in the operation of laying. The cushions 14, 15, may be of rubber tubing or other suitable material of the same character as the cushions 8 of the wing loops. The transverse journal 10 of the register lever 9 is adapted to receive a short cushion 15 of the same character as the cushions 8 and 14 and connects the side limbs of the register lever 9 and completes the loop thereof.

The box 12 is formed of a rear extension a of the body 1 having a terminal tongue I) adapted to enter slits 0 in the rear end of the body 1. The extension at is provided with an orifice (Z to expose the ordinals e on the indicator cylinder 11 when the device is assembled.

The ordinals e are arranged on the cylinder 11 to be exposed successively through the orifice d as the indicator cylinder is turned step by step through the actuation of the lever 9 and means connecting the same with the indicator cylinder to rotate said cylinder. Said means may be variously constructed and are shown as a pawl 16 mounted on the lever 9 and a ratchet wheel 17 fixed to the cylinder and having its teeth 18 equal in number to the ordinals e, of which there may be twelve, more or less. A second ratchet wheel 19 having a corresponding number of teeth 20 is fixed to the cylinder at the other end and is engaged by a pawl 21 fastened to the body 1 by the lateral loop 22 and adapted to prevent backward rotation of the indicator cylinder 11. By this arrangement, as the egg is expelled by the hen or other fowl it operates the limb 9 to actuate the record cylinder so that the number of eggs laid by a fowl will be registered. Since the fowl is not expected to lay more than one egg a day, the register shown in the drawings is adapted for a period of twelve days provided the hen lays one egg each day. i

end to a cylinder 27 that is journaled in the box 12" corresponding to the box 12 shown in Fig. 2. Said cylinder 27 is connected to the lever 9 and moves therewith when said lever is actuated by the eg in the act of laying. The connection w ile thus being actuated is held ti htly against the cylinder 26 by the action 0 the spring 25, thus causing said cylinder to rotate when the lever drops down. After the eg has been laid the spring returns the slac connection 24 to normal position and the ratchet 28 prevents the indicator cylinder from returning. In this way the indicator cylinder will be made to move one number as each egg is laid.

In practical use the registers will be applied respectively to the fowls to be tested and from day to day, or at the end of the determined period, say, twelve days, the register of each fowl will be inspected and its indication noted. If desired the register may then be set to zero and another test be made with the same fowl.

If the indicator shows full twelve eg 's laid in the twelve days, the fowl will e placed in the A1 class, and may be marked with any suitable tag and segregated in a separate yard for breeding purposes. Other fowls will be also classified according to the number of eggs laid and tagged and segregated if desired. The drones may be placed in a yard set aside for them and subjected to further tests.

I claim 1. In a laying register, a frame adapted to fit the back of a fowl between the wings and extend from in front of the wings to in front of the tail, a transverse bearing at.

the front end of the frame, a wire having a central portion journaled in the bearing and bent to form wing embracing loops on each side of the bearing, sockets mounted at the center of the frame to receive the free ends of the loops, a housing carried by the rear end of the frame, an indicator cylinder in the housing, a lever pivotally mounted and adapted to be operated by the egg in the laying process, and a pawl and ratchet connection between the lever and the cylinder.

2. In a laying register, a frame adapted to fit the back of a fowl between the wings and extend from in front of the wings to in front of the tail, wire loops extending from the front end of the frame and adapted to attach the frame to the wings, and 1ndicator mechanism carried by the frame and indicator mechanism carried at the rear end 1) adapted to be operated by the egg in the layof the frame and adapted to be operated by ing process. the egg in the laying process.

3. In a laying register, a frame adapted In testimon whereof, I have hereunto set 5 to fit the back of a fowl between the wmgs my hand at s Angeles, California, this and extend from in front of the wings to In 17th day of June, 1916.

- front of the tail, means extending from the GEORGE H. DILLON.

front end of the frame for attachment to the Witness: wings for holding the frame in place, and JAMES R. TOWNSEND. 

